


Life was good

by Selthien



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Creature Draco Malfoy, Creature Fic, Creature Harry Potter, Creature Inheritance, Cute Ending, Eggpreg, F/M, Happy Ending, Harpies, M/M, Mpreg, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:08:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25335898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selthien/pseuds/Selthien
Summary: It was around midnight in 12 Grimmauld Place, the hidden home of one Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, the Boy-Who-Lived. He was proud to say that the dangers in his life had already passed and that he could finally be ‘just Harry’. He wasn’t quite wrong.The pain began when the clock showed that it was no longer the day before, but that it was then july 31th, the day Harry Potter was born eighteen years before.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 11
Kudos: 385





	Life was good

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys!  
> English is not my mother language, so, if there is something grammatically wrong, please, say so.  
> Hope you enjoy!

It was around midnight in 12 Grimmauld Place, the hidden home of one Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, the Boy-Who-Lived. He was proud to say that the dangers in his life had already passed and that he could finally be ‘just Harry’. He wasn’t quite wrong. 

The pain began when the clock showed that it was no longer the day before, but that it was then july 31th, the day Harry Potter was born eighteen years before. The excruciating pain began at the base of his toes, and quickly spread though his whole body. The only way to explain what he was feeling would be that Harry was being lowered in lava.

And then, the screams began. The Boy-Who-Lived couldn´t control the pained creams that left his throat, and then, Kreacher, the house-elf that took care of Grimmauld Place, entered his room wondering what ‘was the damn master up to, waking him up in the middle of the bloody night’.

After a while, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Harry´s friends that were staying the night, barged into his room, their wands out, thinking some Death Eater somehow entered Grimmauld Place. They saw their friend tossing and turning on the bed, some weird thing covering his legs and arms, and threw every finish-spell spell they knew at their friend, which only made Kreacher yell at them.

“Stop this, you bloody idiots!” the house-elf said “He wasn’t cursed! He is simply getting his creature inheriterance! Get out of here! Now!” he kicked them out of the bedroom, his master’s voice growing hoarse with the passing of the time until he could only groan and whimper in pain.

For Kreacher, it was quite obvious what was happening, but, for Hermione and Ron, it confused them to see their friend passing through such a painful experience. They passed the rest of the night in their friend´s door with the house-elf, their worry doubling in size when they could no longer hear anything from Harry when the sun was beginning to show itself. 

“He is sleeping. You should too. I will.” And, with that, Kreacher was gone with a quiet ‘pop’.

\------------------------------------------

The brightness of the room hurt his eyes, his whole body ached and his throat was tight. It was like the time the twins convinced him drink half a bottle of fire whiskey with them. It wasn´t very pleasant.

After the struggle to get off the bed and walk into the bathroom, he looked at the mirror and gasped in surprise, firstly because he was without his glasses and could see clear as the day what happened to him, secondly because of the changes on his body.

His arms were covered in black feathers, soft as silk and dark as the night, and there were sharp claws where used to be his blunt nails. Harry looked down and noticed his legs were also different; his thighs were still human-like, but the rest of the legs were bird-like.

“Mate, are you alright –“Ron said before seeing Harry.

“Ron, what the flying fuck happened?”

“…Happy Birthday…?”

\----------------------------------------------

“Okay, so you are saying that this-” Harry pointed to his feathers “-are a bloody inheritance?”

“Yes” Hermione answered “The Potter family seems to have some harpy blood, but it was diluted along the generations. So it jumped a lot of your ancestors, and it ended up affecting you.” 

“With my luck…”

“Hey, mate, cheer up! It doesn´t seem so bad, I mean, you can fly!”

“Yeah, I guess…but it will be a nightmare when Rita Skeeter find out.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Look, Harry, according to this book-” She showed him the Rare Inheritances that was kept in the Black library “-You will have a mate.”

“A mate… like Ron?”

“No, more like your other half.”

“Oh... But I am gay, and almost all harpies are women, and and even though it’s a rare inheritance, it’s even rarer for there to be a male harpy, and- “

“I am sure there must be harpy guy out there for you, man.” Ron said. Usually he wasn’t the best person for comfort words, but, thankfully, he said the right thing “Besides, here says that your mate isn’t necessarily a harpy. Let’s just hope you will find him sooner than later.”

“I hope so. Here says that, if I don’t find a mate, I will go crazy.” The harpy said.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a bit, sipping their tea and reading more about Harry’s new life, about what would happen in case he didn’t find someone to pass the rest of your life with.

“Harry, how are you feeling?” Hermione asked.

“A bit scared, I guess… but I have to get used to it, right?”

\----------------------------------

It was, yet again, around midnight when something weird happened to Harry.

He couldn’t sleep. His head was too full, and he wasn’t used to those soft feathers on his skin. So he sat on the kitchen to have some tea.

It had already been four days since his inheritance, and he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he no longer had the same rights other wizards had. According to Hermione, who had already read all the books she could find about harpies, He no longer could become an Auror (something about it being too dangerous to the criminals), a Healer (because his claws could hurt someone even without meaning to) or any other stuff that including dealing closely with people.

Even though he didn’t want to become an Auror or a Healer, it still hurt to know that the choice was taken from him because of an all-human Ministry.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and, without thinking, he attacked whoever it was.

Thankfully, he didn’t even scratch the person before he gained his senses once again.

“Bloody hell, mate!” Ron yelled “What the fuck?”

“I, I, I don’t know, I just got startled, and, and then, when I realized what was going on, I had already attacked you, and, and”

“Hey man, calm down, I get it, you couldn’t control yourself, I forgive you, but please, don’t try rip out my eyes out again."

\---------------------------------

“Ron” Hermione said “I am worried about Harry, he… he is acting weird.”

“Why do you say so?”

“Well, yesterday, I caught him staring at the window for two hours, and today he almost forgot to cook the meat at lunch. He was going to eat it raw.”

“He might just be tired, ‘Mione. The war is been over for only two months. He deserves a rest after helping rebuild Hogwarts last month.”

“Let’s hope it’s just that.”

\----------------------------------

“Ron, ‘Mione, I think I might be going crazy.” Harry said some days after the talk between his two friends. It was lunch time, so they all were sitting at the kitchen table eating chicken and rice, Kreacher nowhere in sight.

“I was flying at a forest yesterday, learning how to use these bloody things, you know, and I saw a rabbit and I caught it with my claws. I… I almost took a bite from it before regaining my senses and leaving…”

“Harry… it might be because of your harpy heritage. I read when a harpy goes under a lot of stress and gets traumatized, it might rely more on its basics instincts, you would stop thinking like an ordinary human and would begin thinking more like… an animal…” Hermione said. She feared Harry would lose himself to his harpy heritance, and saying what could happen, and what was probably happening, out loud only terrified her more “Harry, are you okay? After everything we went through, it would be surprising to say you are fine.”

“I, I am dealing with it, okay?”

Harry wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t saying the truth altogether. At night, he dreamed of Sirius falling in the Veil, of dead bodies of friends laying on the cold Hogwarts floor, of green lights and a woman’s screams.

He knew that ignoring what he was feeling and what he was dreaming wasn’t the healthiest way to cope after the war, but he didn’t want to bother some therapist with his feelings and thoughts; there were a lot of people passing through a way worse period, like Teddy, who lost his parents, and the Weasleys, who have lost a member.

“Mate, are you sure?” Ron asked. He was afraid he would lose his best friend just because he was too stubborn to admit he needed help.

“I am, Ron. I am sure.”

“Harry, if you rely fully on your instincts, you might never come back.” She said “You might have to live in a forest with for the rest of your life.”

\----------------------------------------

A few weeks after the dreaded talk with his friends, Harry was feeling even worse. He could no longer sleep because of the nightmares, he could barely eat, for he was always craving raw meat, and whenever he went flying to clear his head, he didn’t always felt like coming back to his home and to his friends; he felt more like continue in the deep forest, find a mate and build a new life.

One day, he woke up feeling better than he had for a long time. He didn’t have any nightmares that night, and his head felt clearer than ever. He no longer felt the guilt because of the deaths during the war, nor felt like he could begin crying whenever he thought of Sirius.

He got all the covers he could carry and took it to his room, along with dozens of pillows, and put it all on his bed. He tidied everything up until the bed looked more like a giant nest than an ordinary bed. It felt _right._

“Harry, mate, what is all this?” Ron had woken up after hearing someone rummaging through the sheets cabinet near his room.

 _Not allowed. Danger. Must protect nest._ Those were the thoughts passing thought Harry’s head while he quickly approached his friend and, with a few tries, he successfully kicked him out of the room with a scratch.

And then, everything felt fine, he felt like the world was in complete order, unlike the days right after he killed Voldemort, in which he felt like the peace everybody worked so hard to build could crumble at any moment. He was at peace.

Harry climbed onto his bed – _nest_ – and dozed off on the sheets, his wings-like arms keeping him warm and feeling all right for the first time in a long time.

\----------------------------------------------

“Hermione!” Ron yelled when he entered their bedroom “Something’s wrong with Harry! He-he scratched me, and and he didn’t even looked like himself!”

“Calm down, Ron.” She said, putting down her book, an exasperated sigh leaving her lips “I thought we had more time…”

“What do you mean, ‘Mione?!”

“I thought we had more time before he began relying completely on his harpy instincts… I thought we could find a way to stop the process, but I couldn’t find anything…”

Ron took a deep breath. He didn’t have time to freak out right now. He needed to help Hermione and Harry. “Hey, ‘Mione, there is nothing we can do right now about it… we have to let Harry go…You know how much he was suffering after the end of the war, he felt like he was responsible for their deaths, and after what happened at the Triwizard Tournament, he’s changed, and I can’t say it was for the best.” Ron took another deep breath “We have to help him after everything he went through for us. He is our friend, and… and maybe him relying on his instincts was for the best, maybe it could help him heal… even though we might never really talk properly to him again.”

Hermione was deeply surprised by her boyfriend’s wise words. Usually, he would be lost about what to say, but he seems to have grown more than she thought with the war. They all changed.

“So, ‘Mione, what are we gonna do?”

“…we have to take him to a forest. I believe the Dark Forest at Hogwarts would be the best.”

“So Dark Forest it is.”

\-------------------------------------------

“ _Somnium_ ” Hermione whispered as she pointed her wand at Harry, who was tiding up his feathers, making him fall asleep “Ron, apparate him to the forest, I will take the nest and meet you there.”

\---------------------------------------

It was a nice evening, he spent some very needed hours sleeping on his precious nest, and was tiding up his feathers so he could go hunting dinner comfortably.

And then, he heard a whisper and began feeling so sleepy he could no longer keep his eyelids open, but he was awake for enough time to her a woman saying something about a forest.

When he woke up, he was no longer in the dark bedroom, but in a lovely forest with dense vegetation, thick tall trees and a lot of animals.

He was confused, but he was happy he was in the nature, with the soft breeze on his face and his nest in a marvelous tree. He noticed he was in a wonderful hole in the mighty tree, far from the floor, but not too far so he could still see his preys. It was perfect.

\---------------------------------------------

“…Ron, do you think we did the right thing?” Hermione asked her boyfriend. They were both under the invisible cape watching Harry, who was looking around seeming quite excited about his new home.

“He seems at ease to me, satisfied.” He answered “I think he will be better, maybe even happier, here.”

“Let’s hope so.”

\-------------------------------------------

As they neared the limits of the Dark Forest, they hear a loud screech from above. They looked up and saw another harpy; short blond hair shining with the sunlight, white feathers ruffled up because of the apparent danger to his nest.

It was Draco Malfoy.

They apparated to the Hogwarts’ grounds, not wanting to be decapitated by an angry harpy, who seemed to not even recognize them.

“Oh my… was that the Ferret?! We need to take Harry to another place right now!”

“We can’t, Ron. You saw how happy he was to be in there. It would be cruel to take him somewhere else just because he has an annoying neighbor.”

“But, ’Mione! It’s Malfoy!”

“No buts, Ronnald. Let’s go.”

“Oh my God, you look like my mom talking.”

\--------------------------------------------

The soft morning breeze on his face was revigorating.

He woke up that day more rested than ever and decided to explore his new home. So he took off flying, his feathers trembling slightly and his heart pounding with excitement.

After a while, he felt hungry, so he decided to hunt. He swiftly landed on a branch and waited the juicy delicious rabbit to be too vulnerable to run. And then, when the time was right, he attacked. 

He reached the rabbit with his hind claws and, when he was beginning to fly up, another body hit him. It was big and heavy, with feathers as white as snow and claws as sharp as his. It was another harpy.

When they reached the ground, Harry tried to scratch the other, but he dodged his hand and scratched his arm. The dark harpy then proceeded to try flying away from the stronger one, which was successful.

He hoped he wouldn’t need to see the familiar white harpy so soon.

\------------------------------------------

The next day, Harry woke up from his nap and noticed something was off; there was a different smell in the air, one that didn’t belong to an animal or to a plant.

When he looked outside his nest, he noticed the white harpy from the day before was outside sitting on a branch near the hole he called home. He had short blond hair that shone with the sunlight, long legs that could easily catch a prey and white feathers that seemed as soft as silk. When the other noticed his staring, he looked right at Harry and smirked.

He noticed his smirk only made Harry irritable and proceeded to put a squirrel in front of the dark one. That surprised the Boy-Who-Lived.

He didn’t expect that the other harpy – _Draco_ , a part of his mind supplied – wanted to court him.

\-------------------------------------------

“’Mione, what’s going on there?” Ron asked. He and his girlfriend were once again watching Harry under the invisibility cloak, and, that day, for some goddam reason, Draco Malfoy had approached Harry with a dead squirrel.

“Oh My… Ron, I think Malfoy wants to court Harry!” She answered. She couldn’t be more surprised, for that was _Malfoy_ , and relieved, for Harry would have a mate and wouldn’t go crazy.

“Court, like…dating?! But ‘Mione, that’s _Malfoy_!” 

“Yes, Ron, I know that’s Malfoy, but have you never thought that the obsession Harry had with him was actually… something else?”

“Something else, like a fucking _crush_?! But that’s--”

“Malfoy. I know, Ron.” She cut him short “I read somewhere that, when two harpies compete/fight a lot, that might mean they are actually testing each other to see if the other is a worthy mate. That explains so much…”

“Oh my God, ‘Mione. Look, Harry accepted the squirrel! They are, like, dating now?!”

\----------------------------------------------

Harry was quite content. He had a wonderful nest and a worthy harpy courting him. Life was good.

Almost every day, Draco would bring him a snack, like a squirrel, a rabbit or a fox, and they would share until they felt full, then they would fly together throughout the forest until they got tired and then, Draco would accompany him to his nest.

Life was good, and spring was only six months ahead.

\-----------------------------------------------

Six months passed and spring had come, making flowers bloom all around the forest. The bird’s song seemed louder and happier, the trees produced lots of different and juicy fruits, and the mating season of a lot of creatures had arrived, including the harpies.

Harry waited anxiously the arrival of his soon to be mate, his soft feathers ruffled up in excitement. He tidied up his nest the best he could to make it look the most comfortable possible and he stocked water and food in a corner of the nest.

And then, he heard the sound of flying and of landing in front of his nest. It was Draco.

He had never felt more excited.

\-----------------------------------------------

“Ron, do you think it’s a good idea to be here when the harpy’s mating season just ended?”

“C’mon, ‘Mione. We need to see if Harry’s alright. I don’t trust Malfoy.”

“I know you don’t, but is it really necessary? I mean, Malfoy won’t hurt him. It’s against everything he is. Besides--”

“Look, there they are.” He said when the two harpies got out of the nest. They seemed fine, but there was something different about Harry, he seemed almost…

“Oh my God.” Hermione exclaimed “Harry is pregnant!”

“What?!” Ron asked, stupefied “Look, ‘Mione, I know he seems to have…gained a little weight, it doesn’t mean he has a bun in the oven.”

“Oh My—I told you this could happen when they began courting! Did you even listen to me?”

“I did, but I sorta kinda forgot…”

“How do you forget that you _male_ best friend can get pregnant and lay an egg?!”

“I don’t know! I just forget…”

\--------------------------------------------------- 

Harry couldn’t be happier. He had a wonderful nest, an amazing mate and was pregnant with their first –hopefully of many- hatchling. He could feel the shell beginning to harden, so he would lay the egg in approximately two months, and he guessed it would hatch in the next year. 

He felt his mate throw an arm around his shoulders. Ever since they found out Harry was pregnant, Draco became even more protective with his mate. It was adorable that he was worried about Harry’s and the hatchling’s safety, but it could be quite annoying sometimes.

Life was good.

\----------------------------------------------------

Two and a half months later, Harry began feeling pain in his lower belly, and he knew it was finally time.

He called Draco and they went to their nest, he got in position and began laying his egg. It was painful in a way he had never thought would be possible. His mate’s hand was almost breaking when the egg came out and Harry finally could rest. He laid down on the nest and watched his mate care for their egg, cleaning it and putting between they so it could be warm.

\----------------------------------------------------

“Oh My God. Is that…?”

“Yes, it is.”

Ron and Hermione were stunned when they saw Harry holding a baby harpy. It had been one year since he had laid it, so it was only a matter of time for it to hatch, they knew. But seeing the baby was completely different from imagining it. It was the perfect combination of the harpy couple, with his blond hair and lovely green eyes.

It was simply amazing how the ex-enemies created something so wonderful together.

“Hermione, Ron, I know you are in there.” Harry said loudly. He and Draco had become more like their old selves after the hatch of their egg. They talked a lot about speaking to Harry’s friends, who ‘visited’ them once a week “You guys may come here. We won’t bite”

“Harry, mate, are you…thinking straight?” Ron asked after lifting the invisibility cape.

“Yeah. We have been since the little one hatched.” He said, his mate right beside him.

“But… how?”

“We don’t know, but ever since this little one came out, we could think more rationally. I believe it’s because of the need to care for the hatchling that made us more like…before.” Draco answered. He couldn’t hold their old rivalry when he was mated to one of the Golden Trio.

“I…didn’t know….” Hermione said. She had really thought that Harry would be animal-minded forever, so she was almost crying for the revelation of their friend’s coming back to them “So…you are coming back?”

“No.” Harry answered “I want to continue here. We are happy here.”

“But, but Harry! Don’t you miss the wizarding world? The food, and and the magic?”

Harry sighed “Look, guys, I appreciate the effort. I really do. But I don’t want to go back to a world in which everything I did was in the front page of a journal, in which I am judged by everything I did by everyone. In which I am not truly free.” He took a deep breath “But here? I am completely free here, I am happier than I have ever been. I have a home, a true home, and a family. I…don’t want to give that up for a world I gave everything for but that gave so little back.”

“But mate--”

“We understand, Harry.” Hermione cut her idiot of a boyfriend short “But we will keep coming here every week.”

“I wouldn’t expect less.” He smirked.

\----------------------------------------------------------

One day, in one of their friend’s weekly visits, Harry asked:

“’Mione, how are the journals dealing with my ‘disappearance’?”

“Well, Rita Skeeter created the theory that you ran away to the USA, another reporter said you went to France, and another one said you are hunting alligators somewhere in Africa.” she laughed “I have no idea how they came with those ideas, but let’s just say a lot of them went to these places looking for you.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

“Aunty ‘Mione, Uncle Ron, Look what I got!” Little Scorpion said when he saw his favorite aunt and uncle arriving on his and his parents’ hut. After recovering their minds form the hold of their instincts, Harry and Draco had built a hut right under their nest so they would have more comfort.

Scorpion had just made eleven years old and had just gotten his Hogwarts letter.

“Oh my God, Scorp, that is amazing!” Ron hugged his nephew. Scorpion Potter-Malfoy had grown a lot in only eleven years. It seemed like it was yesterday he was just a little hatchling.

“That’s wonderful, honey!” Hermione said. After becoming the new Minister of the wizarding Britain, she could finally change some laws about magical creatures; one of them was that, if they wished to and had a magical core, they could engage in wizarding schools. It was great to see her nephew and so many other magical creatures going to Hogwarts, where they all created wonderful memories.

“Yeah, and Dads said I could have ice cream! Dad went to buy a little in Hogsmead a while ago!”

“It’s great to see you guys.” Harry said from the dinner table with his youngest, Lily, on his lap, her long dark hair being braided.

“Aunty! Uncle! Hello!” She waved at them.

“I see you have arrived well.” Draco greeted them, holding his children’s ice cream “Hello, honey.” He said, kissing Harry. Although they mated when they weren’t in their right minds, they did love each other very much “Here, little ones.” He handed his children their ice cream “Scorpion, you need to keep your feathers tidy. This way they will get tangled.” He warned, tiding up his son’s wings, which were, for some reason, always a mess.

It was one of these days that Harry realized how lucky he was. He had wonderful children, a mate he loved and great friends. Life was good.


End file.
